


That boy is mine

by Ghostly_Crystals



Series: Burn [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst? I don’t know them right now, Fluff, Helpless inspired, How Do I Tag, M/M, Song Inspired, Takes place before Discovery as well, post 100 year war, takes place before burn, this really isn’t that good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostly_Crystals/pseuds/Ghostly_Crystals
Summary: The fire lily festival is held once a year, exactly one week before monsoon season begins. During this time, Fire lilies bloom and are given to people as a sign of love. Oh, and it’s Zuko’s birthday.Author is willing pay anyone 1 oxygen molecule to write summaries.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Burn [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893265
Comments: 8
Kudos: 94





	That boy is mine

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhh I’m sorry this isn’t the reactions, I’m trying to make them as good as possible! I’m also trying not to burn myself out between updating and worrying ‘bout online school. I hope you enjoy!

A summer breeze wafted through the palace. The smell of fire lilies filled the hallways. Servants had one of the flowers in their hair, or pinned to their shirt. A gift from a loved one, or friend as tradition goes. Even outside of the palace, every Fire nation citizen had one of the red flowers on them. The air was static with excitement, and even joy. 

In the palace, the Firelord sits in his office. A trace of a smile is on his face, a bright red flower tucked behind his ear from Uncle. The only sound that filled the room was the scratching of his pen on the parchment. The blurred figure of a butterfly-bird in his right eye’s peripheral vision made him look out of his window. 

The trace of a smile turned into a full grin as he watched the bird flutter around with what appeared to be its mate. For a moment, he just watched, thinking of a certain blue eyed man. A knock at the door brought him out of his musings, with a blush dusting his face, he clears his throat. 

“Enter!” 

In the second it takes the person to open the door, Zuko scrambles to look busy. The sounds of the person entering promt him to look up. Standing there, is one of the new messengers, Shun Rin. The young man seemed eager, a fire lily necklace hanging around his neck. No doubt from the man’s children or family. 

“Firelord Zuko, Avatar and Aang and your friends are here.” The man had a smile on his face, and against his will, Zuko felt a similar grin working it’s way back to his face. With the grace much lower than a Firelord, Zuko quickly got out of his chair. The blush came back once he had realized his actions. “T-thank you, Shun Rin. I wish prosperity to you and your family.” The sentence comes out rushed, and Zuko turns to leave the room when Shun Rin gets his attention a final time. 

“Sir, Happy Birthday.” 

Zuko responds with a smile, a feeling of warmth flooding through his veins as he speed walks through the palace walls. Servants pass him, each of them putting up decorations and sending smiles his way. He notes with another jolt of happiness that each one of them has a red flower somewhere on them. Zuko even passes one servant carrying an entire vase filled with the lilies.

With light and quick steps, he finally makes it to the garden. If he ran the last few feet to the garden’s entrance, no one was going to point it out. The familar shape of a sky bison caused the Firelord to break out into a sprint, tackling the first sight of blue he saw with a hug. 

The two of them tumbled onto the ground, a blur of red and blue. A laughter erupted from their friends, as well as the both of them as they rolled to a stop. Zuko looked up at Sokka, vibrant blue eyes meeting the purest of golds. “Hey, Sokka.” A smile broad smile still overtook Zuko’s face, a blush dusting his cheeks as well as his ears. 

“Hey, Zuko. Happy birthday!” Sokka’s grin is smaller, but Zuko can look into his eyes and see the pure love radiating in his eyes. They stay just like that for a second, but to Zuko it feels like hours, days maybe. Sokka is the first to get up, dusting himself off before offering Zuko a hand up. Without hesitation, Zuko allows himself to be pulled up. The callouses on Sokka’s hands are familar in an odd way. Thoughtfully, Zuko wonders if anyone else loved the way their lover’s hand felt. 

Standing up, Zuko wipes some stray blades of grass off of him before turning to the rest of the group. The rest of them were talking excitedly to each other, while taking bags out of Appa’s saddle. Together, the two boys walked to the rest of the group. Toph, of course greeted them first. “Are you two done kissing with your eyes?” Her question causes Zuko to roll his eyes before pulling the smaller earth bender into a hug. 

“I missed you.” Zuko finds himself saying as Toph wraps her arms around his torso. “Yeah, yeah I missed you too. Happy birthday, Sparky.” Once their hug has ended, Zuko moves on to Katara and Aang. Aang, of course is the first to hug him. The hug is so sudden, that Zuko almost falls back over. A laugh erupts from Sokka, and Zuko can’t help sending a playful glare in his direction. 

After Aang, Katar gave him a gentle hug. It didn’t last as long as the others, even if they weren’t relatively long, but the warmth was still there. Once the hug was over, Zuko looked towards their luggage. “You guys know that someone could put this in your rooms for you, right?” The last times they had visited, the group had had no problem letting the staff put their stuff away. Why they would start now confused Zuko. 

“Uh... we have fragile stuff in our bags, we wouldn’t want anything to break,” Sokka begins,”Besides, I’m sure you still have preparations to make for the festival. By the time you’re done with that, you can tell us more about it.” 

Zuko blinked. Something was off here, he didn’t know if it was Sokka’s tone, the way Katara and Aang turned away, or the stifled laughter coming from Toph. Either way, something was up. He prepared to say something, he even got far enough to open his mouth. Right before he started talking, a finger tapped his shoulder. Zuko turned and found Shun Rin there, a look of urgency on his face. 

“Sir, the Budget adviser had some more questions for you.” 

“Ugh, I already know he’s going to ask about the cabbages again.” Zuko’s voice was frustrated, his attention obviously turned from the original conversation. Sokka let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, not that Zuko even noticed. 

“Alright! Well, have fun with that. We’ll just be in the guest rooms... unpacking our very fragile stuff.” Sokka shot a glare to Aang. For being an all powerful being, Aang could not be subtle to save his life. Zuko looked at the avatar, and raised a single brow. 

“I guess I’ll see you all later. I wish the rains bring you blessings!” The goodbye fell from his mouth without him thinking about it. He’d been saying it all day, after all. Zuko turned away from his friends and walked back into the palace, Shun Rin trailing behind him. They walked through the hallways silently for a few moments, before Shun Rin spoke with a teasing tone. 

“Sir, I’m going to have to request you be more careful on the grass. One of the gardeners was going to have a fit if you trampled any of the flowers.” 

Zuko felt his face flush in embarrassment and replied with his usual formal tone. “Of course. I’ll be more careful the next time I tackle my boyfriend.” There was a beat of silence between the two before they broke out in a laugh.

* * *

The sun began sinking under the horizon, painting the sky in an array of reds and pinks. Violets painted the clouds, leaving a peaceful image in the sky. While the sky was beautiful and peace, the citizens in the Fire nation was anything but. Every citizen, old and young were buzzing with excitement. Since the Fire lily celebration was reintroduced to the people, it quickly became a favorite of the public. 

People hurried around, setting up last minute decorations and making sure everything was in place. Every single one of them had a red flower on them somewhere, panting the city in a red that symbolized joy instead of bloodshed. Many of them people even headed up to the palace for the Firelord’s speech, and of course, his birthday. 

Said Firelord was currently getting dressed. He had been particular with his outfit for tonight, he didn’t want it to be too bulky, or too flashy. Eventually, he and his tailors agreed on a red black and gold outfit. The shirt and robe over it were mainly a bright shade of red while black trimmed the collar and edges of the sleeves. While the undershirt was shortsleeved, the outer robe was long sleeved for the night. The outer robe followed the same color scheme as the undershirt, except with gold dragons trailing down the sleeves. Their tails highlighted the shoulders and collar in gold. The pants were a simple dark red and black. The shoes matched, with gold lining the bottom of the shoe. 

Zuko looked in the mirror one last time, anxiously checking to make sure he looked okay before his speech. Absentmindedly, he trailed a finger over his scar. With a hand, he covered it completely. He observed the unharmed side of his face with his good eye. For the first time in years, he looked at his face and with pride saw only his mother’s features. 

The door opens, the motion causing Zuko to quickly put his hand down and continue looking in the mirror. Zuko watches in the mirror as Sokka walks in, his hands unusually behind his back. “Sokka, what are you doing here?” Despite the question, a the corners of Zuko’s mouth quirked up in a smile. 

“What can I not be in Mr. Firelord’s presence before his speech?” The response was filled with Sokka’s usual sarcasm. Zuko turned to reply when Sokka brought his hands in front of him. He held an entire bouquet of Fire lillies, a smile on his face. 

Zuko stared at him in shock. While it was common to get at least one fire lily from someone today, an entire bouquet from the same person was the ultimate statement of love. Wordlessly, Zuko strided forward and pulled one of the Fire lillies out. With careful steps, he walked back to the mirror and grabbed a pair of scissors off of the shelf beside it. With a quick snip, he trimmed the stem of the flower. 

“You know, a whole bouquet means a lot. But I hope you believe me when I say I love you so much that even an entire field of flowers would only express a fracture of how much I love you.” Zuko said the sentence while walking back to Sokka. With careful hands, he tucked the back of the fire lily behind Sokka’s ear. 

They were close for a moment, just staring at each other jut like they were in the garden. This time, there were no interruption, no friends watching from a distance, and no flowers to worry about crushing. Just Sokka and Zuko. Which is probably why the kiss they shared felt so full of love. It was warm, and gentle. With lips together, they said their love it each other. After the kiss, Zuko took the bouquet from Sokka and placed it on a nearby table. 

“I’d give you a field too, but sadly a bouquet is all I could afford,” Sokka replies, the short laugh after making warmth spread through Zuko’s veins. “A bouquet is all I need for flowers that only bloom once a year.” The Firelord replied. 

Shun Rin entered the room, fire lily necklace still dangling around his neck. “Firelord Zuko, it’s time.” Zuko looked up at the man and nodded, preparing to leave when Sokka grabbed his wrist. Zuko pauses for a moment, a questioning gaze in his eyes when Sokka spoke. “Let me go with you.” The request seemed odd in Zuko’s mind, usually Sokka waited until these kinds of speeches were over. 

“Alright.” Zuko nodded, and the three of them walked to the room’s balcony door. Shun Rin stood in front of them, opening the door. Once the door was open, Zuko walked out first, his head held high. Sokka trailed after him, standing to the right behind his boyfriend. At the sight of their Firelord, the crowd let at cheers. 

At the sound of their voices, Zuko felt an almost overwhelming level of pride. Under Ozai’s reign, these people would’ve remained dead silent. More out of fear than respect. Those two equaled each other in that man’s eyes. That thought brought a shiver down Zuko’s spine, he had to softly shake his head to brush the thoughts away.

With long strides, Zuko makes it to the rails of the balcony and looks out at the crowd. After a few moments, the crowd dies down. “Thank you all for attending the Fire lily festival this year. After so many years of hatred, bringing this holiday of love and joy back is a welcome change,”he begins. 

“Of course, we wish you all a fun time celebrating this year. I pray the rain brings you all good luck, good farming, and peace this year. Remember to stock up for the monsoons this year!” The speech was shorter than previous years, simply due to Zuko wanting people to celebrate for as long as possible. The celebration took place in order to celebrate the monsoon season. The holiday’s iconic fire lillies were given as a sign of love since they only bloomed once a year. That time was a week before the official storm season took place. 

Excitement went through the crowds, their voices picking up in excitement.

Zuko was getting ready to turn away and leave when Sokka spoke up from behind him. “Wait!” Immediately, the crowds quieted. Zuko shot a look to the Watertribe warrior, lowly asking what he was doing. Sokka simply looked at him and shook his head, stepping to the rails beside Zuko. 

“As you know, I’ve been uh.. romantically involved for awhile now,” Zuko noted the embarrassed flush dusting Sokka’s features. “And I’ve wanted to do this for awhile now.”

Sokka turns to face him, Zuko quickly turns so they’re facing each other. A beat passes and Sokka clears his throat, speaking loud and clear. “Zuko, when I first met you, I thought you were a jerk.” A few chuckles erupted from the crowd, Zuko nervously chuckled along. “But I got to know you, and I learned what a kind hearted person you are. When I’m in the South Pole, I don’t feel at home because my home is where you are.” 

A blush spread across Zuko’s face as he realized what was happening. A few happy tears made their way to his eye. “I never liked being away from home.” The line made a grin plaster itself on Zuko’s face, a few tears worked their way down his face. 

“So, Firelord Zuko, will you marry me?” As he talks, Zuko watches him pool out a necklace from the inside pocket of his sash. The question and the sight of the necklace makes time slow to a stop. The necklace is beautiful. One side is red, and the other blue. The rest of it is a gradient with a purple carved stone in the middle. The carving in the stone has one side of a flame with the sun in the background, while the other side has a waterdrop with the moon in the background. 

“Yes.” Zuko hears himself say softly. He repeats, louder this time. “Yes!” The crowd may have cheered, they may have clapped, Zuko couldn’t tell. Right then, it was just him and Sokka. It was just Zuko and his fiancé. With shaky hands, Sokka fastened the necklace around his neck. 

Once it was on, Zuko pulled him into a kiss. This one felt different. Maybe it was because it was his birthday, or maybe it was the fact that Sokka agreed to marry him. This kiss felt like a promise, like it was sealing a contract. A promise was fulfilled, a promise that Sokka would be his, and Zuko would be Sokka’s. No one else just them, together. 

Most importantly, the kiss made Zuko realize how helplessly in love he would be with Sokka, for the rest of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> So uhhhhh I got a tumblr, I’ve never used it before so please be patient when I figure out how to function on there. So uhhh follow me for updates every Wednesday if you want :) 
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> -Ghostly 
> 
> [Tumblr](http://ghostly-crystalz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Ps: lmk if that link works pls


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